Tag: farming

Farming in the Bush (Australia)

February 12, 2011

We’re on day three of farm work in the bush! We’re two hours from the closest town. Tonight they served us a traditional Australian meal of Lamb Roast, roasted vegetables, Pavlova for dessert, and a delicious Australian red wine. The farm is a certified organic cattle farm. During the recent storms in Brisbane, the river flooded and the entire property was a lake for six weeks. The family moved back a week before we got here. Fences are down, grass and garden is dead, and house was inundated with bugs, dirt, and an invasion of mice. We came at just the right time! The kids have been in the pastures every day with Rodger (dad), doing all sorts of farm work and I have been helping mom with kids and getting the house back in order. I consider it post partum doula work. The kids are (almost) two, and three and a half and mom is still adjusting to motherhood and farm life, after a career as a Family Practitioner. Life on a farm isn’t as glamorous as some make it out to be, for sure. You are completely at the mercy of Mother Nature! Two years ago they suffered from a draught, last spring they were stuck in the house for three weeks from the river flooding overnight and they couldn’t get out, and now it happened again for six weeks.

They are very grateful to have us here. I am very grateful to be here! When I see the interaction between Rodger and the kids, and hear the stories each evening of what he shared with them, and what they helped with for the day, I feel like it’s the best education ever! It’s more than an education; it’s an inspiration for them. They are working with a man that loves what he does and is as interested in them and what they want as they are in him.

It is beautiful here! Australia has as many birds as South America and there is always a flock singing their songs. The Magpie is definitely my favorite; their song sounds like a flute. Something I have noticed about a lot of the birds is that they are very people friendly, even though there’s no one out here to be feeding them. When they’re on the hunt, you can walk very close by and they don’t flinch. There are also tons of insects! At night it’s loud with crickets, frogs, and what have you. On the night that we drove in (2 hours drive!), it was around 9:00 and we hit a few places where there were cows sleeping in the road! Lol! They would be slightly startled by the car, get up, and then stand there and stare at us. It was hilarious! There was a bull that was directly in front of the hood having a standoff with the car. It took a while to get around them; then the calves were in the road and ran in front of us trying to get away, rather than running off the road!

The kids are seeing kangaroos on a regular basis out on the farm. They are very fun to watch. They use their hands/paws on their front little legs to hold onto plants when they eat them. There are savannah monitors all around the property and the birds love to tantalize them. Eliot has tried his hand at catching one but hasn’t been quick enough. He’s getting his fill of riding an ATV once again! He’s also working as long and hard as the others and not complaining; that’s a good sign for sure!

Here at the farm, they have guest quarters in a separate little “cottage” (sort of). There are two rooms and a bathroom. One room is a bedroom for Sadie and I. The other room has a small kitchen, table, and bunk beds and a trundle. The boys sleep there. We have a deck, outside table, and camp stove for cooking on. It’s as close to camping as I’ll get while here. I wanted to camp but don’t have the equipment.

So, it’s off to work every day at 8:00, home around 5:30, dinner, and then play cards until bedtime around 10:00. There are breaks for “morning tea” and lunch. Kids are fitting in reading also, and swimming down at the river.

We will take a break when we leave here, spend a few days at the beach, then off to another farm!

90 Mile Beach/Farming/Sand Boarding

January 28, 2011

Two more days and we’re headed to Australia! At this point, it just feels like “life”, and not traveling. I guess we’re used to being on the road and it feels very natural and normal.

We worked the last four days on a farm. The farmers, Peter and Suze, had contacted me through a website I was signed up on; helpex.com. They have farmed for 30 years (relocated here from Germany) and rely on farm workers from around the world that are traveling through and looking for work, to help them run the place. It’s a good deal for them and for the traveler. They feed you all your meals and give you a bed to sleep in and you help out with the farm work. But more than that, you’re forming relationships and life time memories. I feel like they’re the “relatives” and I sense they feel the same way. They rented a hydrolic log splitter the day before we arrived. We all worked together on and off for 2-3 hours at a stretch for two days, getting fire wood for the winter split. This wood will sit for two years and then be ready for the fire. We also tagged along on four wheelers for the herding of the livestock, to move then around different paddocks. They have Border Collies to do the job, and it’s great fun to watch. I rode on the back of Peter’s bike to help the dogs move the bulls and man (!) I just about feared for my life! The quick turns, stopping, pealing out, I think he forgot that I was on the back. They gave Eliot little jobs that required the four wheelers because they knew he loved riding on them and felt he was very responsible. Yesterday the kids stabilized fencing in a back paddock and Suze and I did felting. She has a workshop in the loft of the garage and creates the most beautiful felted pieces. Her goal was to teach me all she could and help me create what I wanted. I love her! We also learned a lot about farm animals and their behaviors. Suze is a teacher at heart and loves sharing/teaching about what she knows.

Before getting to the farm, we went to the northern most point of New Zealand and I think we really felt like we were in the most beautiful place in the world. It was the picture we’ve seen on so many postcards that don’t seem real. The Tasman Sea and the South Pacific meet at the tip and it looks like a giant whirlpool. Just before the tip, along “90 mile beach”, there are giant sand dunes, they stand out in the distance looking like white mountains. We rented boogie boards and went “sand boarding”! It was such a hike getting to the top of the dunes, and what a scene! I felt like I was in the desert in Egypt. So, then you get on your board and ride down the dune. It was very scary for me! I did it twice and that was enough to satisfy my curiosity. We got the boys doing it on tape and Julian wiped out at the bottom; it was hilarious to observe! Lol! We also swam, at a different beach close by, and the water is/was so amazing. The South Pacific is such a beautiful shade of blue, it’s very clear, the white water in the surf is snowy white and clean looking, and of course, it’s very cold! That was a good day.

I met a man from the states traveling by motorcycle. He said he has worked very hard and long all his life, had a minor heart attack recently, and decided it was time to make his health and life a top priority and travel to parts of the world he had always wanted to see.

What an adventure it was when we left the northern peninsula. We needed to get to the car ferry by 8:00 because that’s when the last ferry runs. We took our time at first, and when we realized we had an hour to go we buckled down and focused on getting there. It was the windiest road through the mountains and we just couldn’t imagine any rivers or lakes up so high and saw no signs. If we missed the ferry, it would add three hours to the trip and we did not want to have to find this farm after dark. We finally came around a corner, saw the ferry, and pulled right on with six minutes to spare! It was exhilarating! Lol! I reminded the kids about always having faith and how everything always works out.

So, we’re on the road again. Today we have a four hour drive to Auckland. I am so grateful to Julian for doing all the driving. Eliot has “shot gun” today, so he’s up front with Julian. I love watching the chemistry between the two of them. Julian loves talking about history with Eliot and teaches him so much. Eliot loves the attention; it’s a symbiotic relationship.

We stopped in a little town along the road and Sadie and Julian grocery shopped while I took Eliot in to a Physiotherapist. He pulled a muscle in his back and it was painful. The next time I blog will be from Australia. We’re all excited about meeting up with Nick there!